A Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai idea

Overnight bases

Nights one to three: Chiang Mai, in the old city near Thapae if you want to walk, or on Nimmanhaemin if food and shops are the daytime pleasure TAT describes. Nights four and five: Chiang Rai city, so Wat Rong Khun is not an arrival scramble. Do not sleep in a different mountain town every night.

Day by day

1. Chiang Mai, old city Thapae in daylight and the walking street if it is running that night. One temple you can walk to. Read Chiang Mai for the list TAT actually publishes.
2. Doi Suthep, and only one more thing Phra That Doi Suthep in the morning. Add the botanical garden or Rajapruek, not Doi Inthanon.
3. One mountain, or the transfer If you are fresh, Doi Inthanon or Doi Ang Khang. If you would rather arrive in Chiang Rai in daylight, make this the transfer day and drop the high mountain. You cannot do the summit and a long drive well.
4. Chiang Rai temples Wat Rong Khun early, then Baan Dam or Wat Rong Suea Ten, and Ming Muang if the day still has room. Stop before the Golden Triangle.
5. One landscape Doi Tung and the Mae Fah Luang Garden, or the Golden Triangle viewed from the Thai side. Check any border idea against a current official notice. Mae Sai market is a look, not an assumed crossing.

If the weather or the road changes

Mist viewpoints without mist, or a summit closed for weather, become a Nimmanhaemin and walking-street day in Chiang Mai, or a temple day in Chiang Rai. Do not add Tham Luang at dusk to replace a view. If the ride between the cities takes longer than you hoped, protect the Chiang Rai temple morning by leaving the garden for another trip. The fallback is the city you are already in.

Information TAT — Chiang Mai and TAT — Chiang Rai.